Diwali to be celebrated by Indian students of US varsity

New York: The Indian Student Association of Ohio University will host Diwali celebrations on Sunday featuring traditional dances and Bollywood music at the Baker Ballroom.

Guests at the event will be able to learn about the significance of Diwali and how the festival of lights is celebrated in India, the Post, of Ohio University, quoted student association president Swathi Raghu as saying.

Diwali celebration will be catered by Tadka, a restaurant in Columbus, association secretary Shivam Agrawal said, adding the menu will include traditional Indian cuisine.

The Indian Student Association does not run the event for profit, Raghu, who is a graduate student studying electrical engineering, said. They receive the majority of the funding from the International Student Union, she added.

All 300 tickets for the ‘Diwali: Festival of Lights’ celebration have been sold.

According to the Office of Institutional Research, as of 2014 there are more than 100 students from India studying at Ohio University.

“When you are far away from home, you tend to be more homesick during a festival time, so to compensate for that we gather and get together with whoever we know and try to feel like we are at home,” said Rohit, a graduate student of electrical engineering at the US university.

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh says he shares a relationship of mutual admiration with Deepika Padukone, who he says he is “blessed” to have in his life.

Ranveer was at the News18 Rising India Summit when he was asked about his relationship status with Deepika and about his marriage plans.

Ranveer Singh is all praises for Deepika Padukone. IANS

Dodging the question, Ranveer, who has never confirmed or denied a relationship with Deepika even as rumours have been around for some years, said: “It is a relationship of mutual admiration… I rate her very highly as an actor, and she doesn’t.”

“She says, ‘You’re just a ham’,” he quipped, adding that she is “awesome” and that “there’s a lot to learn from her as an artiste”. He acknowledged that his “Bajirao Mastani”, “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela” and “Padmaavat” co-star has helped him become a “well-rounded human being” and that he is “blessed to have her in my life”.

Ranveer was also asked if his quirky and flamboyant persona is his real self? He said it was in 2013 that something in him changed and he felt he didn’t need to try and fit in.

“I felt I should say what I feel like, dress the way I feel like. It’s less taxing,” he said, recounting how earlier he “was trying to be somebody I was not”.

Ranveer said his school friends don’t find his flamboyance over-the-top or made up because they have seen him so since the beginning. Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh says he shares a relationship of mutual admiration with Deepika Padukone, who he says he is “blessed” to have in his life.

Ranveer was at the News18 Rising India Summit when he was asked about his relationship status with Deepika and about his marriage plans. Dodging the question, Ranveer, who has never confirmed or denied a relationship with Deepika even as rumours have been around for some years, said: “It is a relationship of mutual admiration… I rate her very highly as an actor, and she doesn’t.”

“She says, ‘You’re just a ham’,” he quipped, adding that she is “awesome” and that “there’s a lot to learn from her as an artiste”. He acknowledged that his “Bajirao Mastani”, “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela” and “Padmaavat” co-star has helped him become a “well-rounded human being” and that he is “blessed to have her in my life”.

Ranveer was also asked if his quirky and flamboyant persona is his real self? He said it was in 2013 that something in him changed and he felt he didn’t need to try and fit in.

The couple has worked in many movies together.

“I felt I should say what I feel like, dress the way I feel like. It’s less taxing,” he said, recounting how earlier he “was trying to be somebody I was not”.

Ranveer said his school friends don’t find his flamboyance over-the-top or made up because they have seen him so since the beginning. “If you see the remarks in my report cards, they add up to things that he loves to entertain, he’s gregarious, vivacious and I was always pushing the style envelope even in the fourth standard.